Many common video systems capture video and store it for extended periods of time. Some of these video systems are used for surveillance and security applications. In some cases, video is captured over long periods of time because the objective is to capture video of unexpected or infrequently occurring events. Consequently, video systems used for these types of applications typically require large quantities of video storage space. New video is often being acquired and stored on an ongoing basis. Consequently, the amount of available video storage space can become a limiting factor.
A need to view security or surveillance video may not arise for a significant period of time after the video has been captured. Although most of the video may never be viewed or utilized, large quantities of video must be saved in order to have available the small number of video segments which might potentially be of interest at some point in the future. Because it is difficult to know when an investigation of a past incident or other need for video may arise, it is challenging to determine how long security or surveillance video should be retained before it is deleted.
Additionally, in security, surveillance, and monitoring applications (among others), video is often captured on an ongoing basis and it is often desirable to view or monitor the video on a live or real time basis. In some cases, video must be transmitted to another location for monitoring. The communication links used to transmit video may be subject to interference, competing uses, prioritized use, or other conditions which result in bandwidth limitations. As a result, limitations on real-time transmission of the video may exist.